Report knocks cops in Grant shooting

ON THE EAST BAY

The report reviewing the actions of BART police officers on the New Year's Day shooting death of Oscar Grant on an Oakland transit platform is another big coffin nail in the case against the regional transit agency.

Defense attorney John Burris, who represents Grant's family, said the findings in the report prepared for the transit agency by the Oakland law firm of Meyers Nave only strengthen the family's $25 million wrongful death suit against the agency.

It certainly doesn't help in the pending murder trial of former Officer Johannes Mehserle. Mehserle was captured on video shooting Grant as he lay prone on the platform on New Year's Day after BART police were called about reports of a fight on a train. Mehserle, who is charged with second-degree murder in Grant's death, is awaiting trial in 2010.

The report confirmed the argument he's made all along, Burris said in a phone interview last week.

"The police created the situation with the over-aggressiveness of one of their officers," he said.

Burris pointed a finger at BART Officer Tony Pirone, saying his actions, which were captured on tape by passengers aboard the train, launched a police melee.

Indeed, Pirone is seen on video walking up to Grant and throwing a punch that landed squarely on his face.

With apparently little knowledge of the situation, Pirone pulls his Taser and starts threatening Grant and others who've been detained on the platform, the defense attorney said.

"There was nothing anyone did to justify its use - and the video bears that out," Burris said. "It was a case of the police run amok," he added.

The report determined there was no one in charge of coordinating police actions, supervising officers failed to show up at the scene, and the officers who were there failed to follow any department protocol, policy or procedure as they stormed through train cars and dragged people off.

"I have to believe there is something in the report that speaks to the officers' conduct," Burris said. "There was misconduct and they should be terminated for lying about it," he added.

Grant's shooting can now be regarded as the first tragedy in a year filled with them, and it's not even September yet.

For Oakland residents, Grant's death signaled the start of a year that has tried the souls of residents like none in recent memory.

Grant's untimely death was followed two months later with the shooting death of four Oakland police officers in a single day, one of the worst tragedies in the history of U.S. law enforcement.

Both events prompted street demonstrations and have strained relations between police officers and African American residents living in areas affected by high crime by raising suspicion to levels not seen since the mid-1960s. In the aftermath of both tragedies, race became a factor in the debate.

If that weren't enough, in May, residents received more bad news from Oakland City Hall: The city's budget shortfall, expected to top $90 million, would result in hundreds of layoffs, the loss of services and huge tax increases to residents across the board.

For a city mired in desperation and debt, there may be some relief on the way.

A new citizens' group called Make Oakland Better Now will hold its first full meeting this week at St. Theresa's Church in the city's Glenview neighborhood.

Bruce Nye, one of the group's co-founders, is hoping to create a grassroots political movement with an eye toward next year's mayoral election.

The group's charter mission is to focus on only three topics, public safety, public works and infrastructure, and a new era of government accountability in a city where local government has struggled to explain - or develop - sound policies or set achievable goals.